COVID19 in Guyana - a note

So where do we stand right now? Officially we have 5 cases including 1 death. A number of persons are in some degree of quarantine or isolation. Testing seems to be  used sparingly.

Several government agencies are urging the use of social distancing. Ports are closed to travellers. Several outlying regions are about to start lockdowns or curfews. Schools were closed earlier in the month.

In the city activities are reduced but many clubs, bars and restaurants still operate. Not all take the threat seriously. Public transportation (by minibus) is still crowded but taxis are increasingly used. Some wear masks. Checkout queues in stores are not spaced out in most cases.

Here on the East Coast life is less affected but is quieter than usual. Masks are not generally seen. The highway is still busy. Life goes on...

New asphalt plant to help recycling

According to reports (Newsroom.gy) a new, larger, asphalt plant is shortly to begin operations. It should have the capability of using recycled tyres and plastic in the mix.

"When completed the new Asphalt Plant will be able to produce 160 tonnes of material per hour, reduce road construction costs and produce better roads.
It was noted that the equipment will also use plastic bags, bottles and used tyres to pave roads."

This seems a significant step in promoting recycling in Guyana.

Climate change crisis reports

As the crisis deepens three news items caught my attention.

Levels of HFCs rising - The threat from atmospheric HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) were supposed to have been banished due to international action taken from 2005. However the threat has returned according to a report in Phys.org:

Despite reports that global emissions of the potent greenhouse gas hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) were almost eliminated in 2017, an international team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has found atmospheric levels growing at record values.

Call for reduced investment in fossil fuels world-wide - According to the BBC:

The world will face irreversible heating unless firms shift their priorities soon, the outgoing head of the Bank of England has told the BBC.
Mark Carney said the financial sector had begun to curb investment in fossil fuels – but far too slowly.
He said leading pension fund analysis "is that if you add up the policies of all of companies out there, they are consistent with warming of 3.7-3.8C".

Of course Mark Carney is not alone in this view. Some investors are moving in this direction.

How we can meet our climate goals - An article at ScienceAlert reports on research on those "elements most likely to help society limit global warming".

According to the research, the social tipping interventions that could help us do this would be:

• removing fossil-fuel subsidies and incentivising decentralised energy generation;
• building carbon-neutral cities;
• divesting from assets linked to fossil fuels;
• revealing the moral implications of fossil fuels;
• strengthening climate education and engagement; and
• disclosing information on greenhouse gas emissions.

Of course, many of these mechanisms are already in process and evident in society to some degree, but whether any have yet reached a tipping point leading to a rapid societal transformation is debatable.

Relentless persecution of the Baha'is in Iran

Despite its other problems Iran continues its totally unjust persecution of the peaceful Baha'i community, the largest religious minority in the country. According to the Baha'i News Service:

“The Baha’i International Community is alarmed by the recent wave of persecution against the Baha’i community in Iran and calls upon the international community to shine a spotlight on these issues, which represent a major further deterioration”, says Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the BIC.

Iranian authorities are preventing Baha’is across the country from obtaining national identification cards, while a series of home raids, confiscations, arrests, and attacks on properties have unjustly targeted Baha’is.

Climate tipping points

There has been increasing mention of tipping points recently in relation to climate change. A tipping point is "the point at which a series of small changes or incidents becomes significant enough to cause a larger, more important change".

For example a small rise in temperature causes hot dry brush to ignite or a small rise in water level causes a dam to collapse.

Such events are usually very hard to reverse.

One climate-related tipping mentioned is the collapse of the Amazon rainforest into a drier savannah ecosystem. The forest in Brazil may be approaching this fate. See this MSN report. Once this happens there is not enough rain to regrow the forest. Are the forests in Guyana changing to savannah?

Other tipping points concerns the melting of ice in the Artic and Antartic. Once the ice melts the exposed land absorbs the energy of the sun better and warms faster. See this BBC report.

Other tipping points concern the release of methane from melting permafrost in the Artic and from frozen deposits below cold seas. Methane accelerates global warming.